The Drowned World

By J. G. Ballard, Introduction by Martin Amis

When London is lost beneath the rising tides, unconscious desires rush to the surface in this apocalyptic tale from the author of ‘Crash’ and ‘Empire of the Sun’, reissued here with an introduction from Martin Amis.

All the way down the creek, perched in the windows of the office blocks and department stores, the iguanas watched them go past.

London, 2145. The climate crisis has transformed the city into a primeval jungle, with rising tides and oppressive heat putting human life at risk. The streets are now swamps; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and reptiles are seen swimming through the newly-formed lagoons. Some flee the wasteland capital; others remain to pursue reckless schemes in the name of science and profit. As the world comes face to face with its future, how will humanity reckon with its ancient past?

Format: Paperback
Release Date: 09 May 2024
Pages: 192
ISBN: 978-0-00-722183-7
J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai. After internment in a civilian prison camp, his family returned to England in 1946. His 1984 bestseller ‘Empire of the Sun’ won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His controversial novel ‘Crash’ was made into a film by David Cronenberg. His autobiography ‘Miracles of Life’ was published in 2008, and a collection of interviews with the author, ‘Extreme Metaphors’, will be published in 2012. J.G. Ballard passed away in 2009.

”'The most important British writer of the latter half of the 20th century” - Will Self

”'Powerful and beautifully clear … Ballard’s potent symbols of beauty and dismay inundate the reader’s mind” - Brian Aldiss

”'One of the brightest stars in post-war fiction. This tale of strange and terrible adventure in a world of steaming jungles has an oppressive power reminiscent of Conrad” - Kingsley Amis

”'Extraordinarily prescient … Ballard is a prophet” - Philip Pullman, Guardian

”'The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?” - Len Deighton